Validation of the Questionnaire of Quality Assessment of Online Courses adapted to MOOC

Abstract

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) constitute a virtual training modality that is already present in today’s educational scenarios, and reflects a specific conception of e-learning. Universities are integrating this type of training as part of their formative offer or, at least, debating whether to integrate them or not. In the light of the above, it becomes necessary to gauge what the characteristics of these courses should be so that they can configure a high-quality virtual training format. These are considered to be necessary instruments when it comes to guaranteeing the quality of MOOCs from different perspectives, the pedagogical one in this case, since the success and consolidation of this e-learning format will depend upon it. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to validate a questionnaire for the pedagogical evaluation of MOOCs through an adaptation of a questionnaire used for evaluating virtual courses (Arias, 2007). The validity and reliability of it was checked using a principal components factor analysis with Varimax rotation. The conclusion drawn is that it would suffice to introduce adaptations on the list of dimensions proposed in this questionnaire that take into account the specificities of MOOCs, since the latter cannot be exclusively analyzed from the general perspective of e-learning prior to MOOCs. Thus, the dimensions which serve as the basis for that questionnaire are: 1) quality of communication and multimedia elements in online massive courses; 2) curricular consistency in such courses as well as their degree of adaptation to the user; and 3) the quality of their didactic planning.

Keywords

• MOOCs, práctica pedagógica, educación en línea, investigación en educación a distancia, evaluación